State withdraws funding for new fire truck
State funding for a new fire truck has been pulled back, which may result in the city footing the $900,000 bill.
By Charles Sercombe
State Republican legislators have a Scrooge-like Christmas message for Hamtramck and other communities.
The Republican-majority members in the state Appropriation Committee discontinued more than $600 million in various city and county projects throughout the state.
Hamtramck is in that list of communities that will face a huge financial hit.
If the cuts pass, it will mean the city will lose about $5 million in funding for three projects:
• $2 million for a new DPW building
• $2 million for the parking lots/road in Veterans Park for the Historical stadium project
• $800,000 for a new fire truck
As of now, it appears Hamtramck will be on the hook to pay for the projects that are already underway.
Tom Habitz, the executive director of the Hamtramck Parks Conservancy, said his project, the rebuilding of parking lots and a road that leads into the Hamtramck Stadium, is “mostly finished.”
So what would it mean if the money is withheld?
“It would be a matter of clawing it back,” Habitz said, which at the very least would mean a huge initial financial hit to the city’s budget, since this is technically a city project.
As for the fire truck, Fire Chief Matthew Wyszczelski said the construction of the truck is about halfway done. It takes about two years to build one.
The $2 million, Wyszczelski said, would then become the city’s responsibility to pay since it was the city that entered into a contract to purchase the truck.
Wyszczelski said he has been in touch with State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), who had helped arrange the state grant to get the truck. The fire chief went to Lansing on Tuesday to urge the State Appropriations Committee to “restore the budget.”
Interim City Manager Alexander Lagrou said the funding is crucial for Hamtramck “because this community relies on this funding to get stuff done.”
In the meantime, Wyszczelski said that, if the cuts remain, “it’s a big Christmas lump of coal for everybody.”
That’s not the way that Matt Hall, Republican Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing the 42nd District (Kalamazoo/Allegan counties), views the cuts.
He defends ending the funding, saying it’s about eliminating “Democrat pork, waste, fraud and abuse.”
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Mayor Amer Ghalib said that he had talked with Hall, who denied making some of the cuts.
“I’m not sure how accurate some of this information is,” Ghalib said.
However, in the audience was former state Rep. Abraham Aiyash.
Aiyash, a Democrat and former resident of Hamtramck, said he worked with State Rep. Hall, and had harsh words about him.
“If Matt Hall tells you he can bring back that money for Hamtramck, I will tell you he is a liar,” Aiyash said.
He continued, saying Hall “is not a person you should trust, or anyone in this city should trust. He’s one of the worst people I had the displeasure of serving with.”
Here are some of the other programs and projects on the chopping block:
• a cancer treatment facility
• ladder fire trucks for Livonia, Troy, Scio Township, Northville Township
• police equipment, necessary new firefighter radios, and replacing an aging ambulance for Utica
• a public safety training facility for Eaton County
• storm cleanup recovery for Grand Ledge
• a police command vehicle for Sterling Heights
• A new fire station for Westland and Oshtemo Charter Township
• A new fire station and fire service equipment for Kalamazoo Twp
• many after-school tutoring programs aimed at improving literacy and math outcomes
• a new inpatient wing at Eaton Rapids Medical Center
• a temporary physician and registered nurses at Aspirus Ironwood Hospital in the U.P.
• various road and bridge projects
• a food pantry expansion, and program renovations
Posted Dec. 19, 2025
